There is no doubt that my body is working at a less than optimal level right now, but I'm faced with one of those injuries that makes me unsure if I should run or rest. I'm not one who feels the need to run through injuries. I prefer to rest and heal. Typically, I am healthy and therefore do not feel pressured to try and force things. Especially since my next goal race is about 5 months away.
With that being said, I had planned a 12 Summits (32-34 miles with 10,000+ feet of elevation gain) run with Eric, Steve and Jenny yesterday so I thought I'd give it a shot and bail somewhere along the way if I felt I was doing any further damage to myself. There were rumors of snow, and lots of it about 1/3rd of the way into the out and back. We were uncertain if we would make the entire planned trip right from the start and ready to improvise if necessary.
The initial climb of around 2,000 feet is a brutal one and I could feel the burn and exertion in my shin area right from the start. Part of the way up I could feel myself compensating and putting more pressure on my right leg, which was making the climb a bit more difficult. During the few runs I did this past week my shin did not seem to bother me too much as I was running and felt better after being warmed up. After about 30 minutes, the shin pain subsided enough that I was no longer putting a disproportionate amount of weight on my right leg. The shin discomfort was noticeable, but not debilitating.
We reached the first peak (T3) and there was no view in sight. It was foggy and windy the higher we went and there was more and more snow on the trail. The climbs to T2 and T1 are relatively quick and easy. Jenny was being careful with her ankle that was injured back in January, but trail conditions were pretty good thus far. After taking a respite in the Hikers Hut, and heading out onto the bootleg trail, we could tell that things were about to get more difficult.
Up to this point we were making pretty good time. The snow along this trail was not super deep, but it was icy and our feet were beginning to sink in more than before. The trail was slow going and the snow continued to deepen as we went. Before we knew it we were post holing in 1-2 feet of snow and paying close attention in order to stay on the trail. When we reached the Christmas tree we had a brief conversation about whether we wanted to continue on, or take an alternate route. We agreed we would head towards East Tiger and revise if we needed to.
The story from there was deep snow. As we got closer to East Tiger the depth of the snow was in the neighborhood of 2-3 feet. At one point, my right leg sank past my knee and when I put my left hand down it sank all the way so my head was resting on the snow. I laid there for a minute a bit nostalgic about my younger years and romping around in the snow. I love the snow and it was a humorous, but physically demanding task to trudge through it on this day.
When we hit the road to East Tiger we had a running joke that the road should be clear due to recent rainfall and a few days of warmer temperatures. Of course that was not the case. I think the snow was even deeper. I decided to lay down on the snow as we were heading up and then Jenny joined in on the fun. Eric caught it on video, but the pictures and video do not do the snow justice.
We reached East Tiger and then made our descent toward Middle Tiger searching for a break in the snow. We "ran" on the road for about a mile or two before reaching some exit options that would take us back towards T3 rather than continuing on to Middle and South Tiger. After much post holing and stumbling on the way down our feet were frozen. When we finally hit dirt it felt odd to run. My entire body was stiff and my legs hurt. At that point I was ready to wrap things up and head back to the car. Of course the car was about 7-8 miles away still.
I'm not sure of all the trails we took to get back, but the story on the way back was branches strewn across the trail. We spent a lot of time moving them off the trail, which meant things were slow going, still. There were a few sections of clear trail where we were able to run unobstructed, but they were few and far between. We got to see some new trails and enjoy 6+ hours in the forest with friends. We only covered about 15 miles, but we all agreed it felt closer to 30. My shin held up alright, but I'll probably take a rest day today just to make sure.
One revelation I had while out there was how much I miss the trails. I miss being able to run and feel like I am floating along the dirt with my feet barely touching down. I miss being alone in the woods where it is me against nature and where I have some alone time to talk to God and thank Him for all the beauty that surrounds me. I miss taking the time to be thankful for the trees, rivers, streams, rocks and trails that most of us take for granted while we live out our day to day existence within a concrete jungle not remembering what is truly important to us. For me it's God, family, friends, health and the ability to explore and be one with nature.
He is risen! Happy Easter!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Moving Forward...With a Limp
The depression from falling short at the last race was short lived and I was ready to move ahead rather quickly. The short of it was that I was upset about my performance. No need to dwell, or beat myself up about it for a prolonged period of time. I have a beautiful wife, loving and wonderful children, a good job and nothing really to complain about. I lead a pretty darn good life.
I used the week following the race to relax and not have to worry about a running schedule. My legs felt pretty good and I have been formulating the plan for the next goal race. Fortunately, I will not have to go this alone. I will let my coach do a lot of the weekly schedule work and I will do my best to follow orders, which I am not always good at. Paul is flexible and I do my best to get the majority of the workouts in as written. I appreciate the fact that he is willing to add in a race as a training run and work it into my schedule with the end goal in mind.
This past week I was back to the schedule with the emphasis moving back to the trails. The difficult part about this is that the trails aren't exactly convenient. I had a few speed work days that were supposed to be on the trails and back to back mid-long runs, but I was also heading out of town to the beach to relax over spring break. I decided the sand is soft like trails, not nearly as technical, but it would have to do.
I love running on the sand. I headed out on Wednesday with a 6 x 1 mile workout at 6:30 pace on tap. I knew that on the sand there was no way I would be able to hit the splits so I focused on running hard for 6:30 rather than a mile. Another factor blowing me right in the face was the brutal wind. No problem, I'll alternate directions and the wind and the sand would make me tougher in the long run. The run went well and I managed 9 miles in 1:12 with the faster stuff mixed in.
After the run I spotted Jessica and the kids splashing about despite the cold weather and less than clear water. The waves were crashing along the shore and the kids would wade out up to their knees and then run back to the shore as the water came towards them. Tyler was enjoying the game as Jessica and I looked on. We could see an impending wave coming and Tyler was a bit far out. We yelled at him to run back towards us along with the other kids. He almost made it, but the water was moving a bit too fast. Emily got to him just in time, but he took a tumble and brought down Emily with him. Both of them were covered with water and sand, but no major damage was done. Jessica was right there as well to scoop Tyler up and we all headed back to the house only a few blocks away.
The best thing about being at the beach is spending the time with family and relaxing in a way that is difficult to do at home. The girls spent a lot of time in the hot tub, Tyler watched Winnie the Pooh and Rudolph about a dozen times and Jessica and I were able to sleep in and forget about work, bills and all other worries for a few days.
I headed back to the sand again Friday and was forced to run in deeper sand due to the high tide. On the way back I ran on the roads and once again faced the strong winds while trying to mix in some faster shorter bursts along the way.
Saturday my motivation level was low. Eventually, I managed to get out the door for a walk/run with Jessica. The walking was fine, but I noticed a bit of soreness in my left calf. When we began to run I was definitely doing so with a limp. We alternated the run/walk, but after about 3 miles it was all walking and more painful at that. I managed to limp the 3 miles back home and the ache in the left calf was more noticeable as we went.
It's really a minor thing to complain about. The kids are upstairs hanging out with their friends, the sun is out, Jessica will be home soon and there is nothing major pending on the schedule. I lead a pretty good life.
Happy Living!
I used the week following the race to relax and not have to worry about a running schedule. My legs felt pretty good and I have been formulating the plan for the next goal race. Fortunately, I will not have to go this alone. I will let my coach do a lot of the weekly schedule work and I will do my best to follow orders, which I am not always good at. Paul is flexible and I do my best to get the majority of the workouts in as written. I appreciate the fact that he is willing to add in a race as a training run and work it into my schedule with the end goal in mind.
This past week I was back to the schedule with the emphasis moving back to the trails. The difficult part about this is that the trails aren't exactly convenient. I had a few speed work days that were supposed to be on the trails and back to back mid-long runs, but I was also heading out of town to the beach to relax over spring break. I decided the sand is soft like trails, not nearly as technical, but it would have to do.
I love running on the sand. I headed out on Wednesday with a 6 x 1 mile workout at 6:30 pace on tap. I knew that on the sand there was no way I would be able to hit the splits so I focused on running hard for 6:30 rather than a mile. Another factor blowing me right in the face was the brutal wind. No problem, I'll alternate directions and the wind and the sand would make me tougher in the long run. The run went well and I managed 9 miles in 1:12 with the faster stuff mixed in.
After the run I spotted Jessica and the kids splashing about despite the cold weather and less than clear water. The waves were crashing along the shore and the kids would wade out up to their knees and then run back to the shore as the water came towards them. Tyler was enjoying the game as Jessica and I looked on. We could see an impending wave coming and Tyler was a bit far out. We yelled at him to run back towards us along with the other kids. He almost made it, but the water was moving a bit too fast. Emily got to him just in time, but he took a tumble and brought down Emily with him. Both of them were covered with water and sand, but no major damage was done. Jessica was right there as well to scoop Tyler up and we all headed back to the house only a few blocks away.
The best thing about being at the beach is spending the time with family and relaxing in a way that is difficult to do at home. The girls spent a lot of time in the hot tub, Tyler watched Winnie the Pooh and Rudolph about a dozen times and Jessica and I were able to sleep in and forget about work, bills and all other worries for a few days.
I headed back to the sand again Friday and was forced to run in deeper sand due to the high tide. On the way back I ran on the roads and once again faced the strong winds while trying to mix in some faster shorter bursts along the way.
Saturday my motivation level was low. Eventually, I managed to get out the door for a walk/run with Jessica. The walking was fine, but I noticed a bit of soreness in my left calf. When we began to run I was definitely doing so with a limp. We alternated the run/walk, but after about 3 miles it was all walking and more painful at that. I managed to limp the 3 miles back home and the ache in the left calf was more noticeable as we went.
It's really a minor thing to complain about. The kids are upstairs hanging out with their friends, the sun is out, Jessica will be home soon and there is nothing major pending on the schedule. I lead a pretty good life.
Happy Living!
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